


Oh, Very Well, Then

by TourmalineQueen



Series: Rozenn the Breton [4]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Adoptable Character Gets Backstory, Angst, F/M, Galmar and Ulfric's Epic Bromance, Galmar is so whipped at this point in time, Galmar makes an ass of himself, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 11:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20375761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TourmalineQueen/pseuds/TourmalineQueen
Summary: Written for the Skyrim KinkmemeOriginal Prompt: So, I'd like to turn canon on its' head a bit. All the kids available for adoption in Skyrim are adorable and have suitably heartstring-tugging backstories to make the most hard-bitten Dragonborn (M or F) go teary eyed and want to collect rescue them all.But what if the Dragonborn's spouse (M or F) was the one who was approached first? And what if they wanted to take the poor, unwanted mite(s) in? (For company, out of guilt, they can't have kids themselves... they want to collect them all) or just for shits and giggles. Anything goes.Who decides who gets takne in? Will the spouse ask the DB? Will the spouse arrive in one of the houses/homesteads with a little surprise? Will the DB react well or badly?For this prompt MULTIFILLS are ENCOURAGED. All races, all genders, all NPCs are welcomed. Crackfic, genfic, angst, and anything and everything in between is welcomed and encouraged. I just want to know why the Spouse takes on or to parenthood.Walking with Ulfric through the streets of Windhelm, Galmar spots something he can't ignore, and decides to right his long-ago mistake. The Question is, how will his wife react?





	1. Chapter 1

"So, Jorlief tells me Thane Rozenn almost has Hjerim fully furnished, now," Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak said to his Housecarl and friend as they walked the streets of Windhelm. They had no destination in mind, and neither seemed inclined to head indoors, despite the icy bite in the wind. It was a crisp Frost-Fall evening, and the stars lit the sky. 

Galmar rolled his eyes. "So the Breton has no privacy, either, hm?" he asked with a wry grimace. "She'll be thrilled to know that you're asking if I've moved in yet."

Ulfric snorted. "It hardly matters, Galmar. But I wished to inform you that she asked for accommodation for children to be placed in the house. Has she told you of that?"

Galmar halted near Calixto's barred door, and turned to look his charge in the eye. "Are you worried that Rozenn might try to spring unwanted children on me? I don't know whether I should be touched, or if you're touched in the head."

Ulfric was about to reply when a small voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me? W-would you like to buy some flowers? E-excuse me?"

A small girl in a red dress that had seen better days was holding a flower basket and holding up a wilted mountain flower of indeterminate colour.

"Girl, have you no idea whom you are addressing?" Ulfric asked, not unkindly.

"Um, someone rich?" the girl asked, eyeing Ulfric's fur cloak.

"You are in the presence of your Jarl, girl. You need to show proper deference," Galmar said.

Her eyes widened. "Ulfric Stormcloak? And... you- you're the General, Galmar, aren't you? My Papa told me about you."

"Who's your Papa, little one?" Galmar asked before Ulfric could butt in and scare the little thing away.

She hung her head. "He- He loved you- He- His name was Wulfgar. He was... He's dead, now."

Ulfric gently patted her head in sympathy, and Galmar felt a terrible weariness in his bones. He decided to steer the conversation to a happier topic. "Where is your mother, little one? Does she know you're out on the streets at this hour?"

The girl gave him a sad look. "My Mama is dead. She died when I was a little girl."

Galmar blinked. "No, she's not."

"Yes, she is," the little girl insisted. "She died and they put her in a box in the Hall of the Dead and Papa wouldn't let me see the box but they put it in the ground the next spring."

"No, she didn't. I remember Wulfgar talking about you and your mother, and he told me she lived. I wanted to ensure his dependants could look after themselves, should the worst happen. Do not vex me with your lies, girl," Galmar warned her.

"I'm not a liar, _you're_ the liar! Liar! I... I hate you!" she shouted, throwing her flower at Ulfric and stamping her foot. She turned on her heel and ran to Niranye's House.

"Well done, General," Ulfric murmured acidly, "you reduced a small girl to tears. Your wife must be ever so proud of you."

"The girl was peddling untruths with her flower basket, Ulfric. Come on," Galmar grunted irritably and stalked off towards the graveyard.

Galmar's long stride quickly ate up the distance in the walled city, and soon the Jarl and Housecarl were outside the Hall of the Dead, among the gravestones. Ulfric halted at a modest, slightly weathered plinth.

"The names, Galmar. Look here? Eadwacer died six years ago, and now the addition of Wulfgar. One of that family lied to you, friend, but it wasn't the girl-child," Ulfric said quietly.

"Ulfric," Galmar sighed, "I may have made a slight tactical miscalculation."


	2. Chapter 2

"Tactical miscalculation? My friend, you have made a fool of yourself," Ulfric replied seriously.

Galmar nodded. "Do you know where she lives?"

"Galmar, I have the concerns of all of Skyrim to worry about. I do not know anything about the whereabouts of the home of one small girl in my city," Ulfric murmured. At Galmar's irritated expression, and not prepared for the ensuing argument that he needed to care as much for Windhelm as the rest of the Province, he added, "Jorlief will know, I'm sure."

Jorlief did, in fact, know where Wulfgar and Eadwacer and their daughter - whose name turned out to be Sofie - had lived (in a modest house not too far from the Aretino residence), but because both breadwinners had died without having fully paid for the house, the city had taken the property back and sold it to another family. 

Jorlief had sent the girl the obligatory notification that she would be transferred to Honourhall in Riften, but when he and the City guard who was to escort her out of Windhelm had arrived, the house was completely empty: the girl had run rather than go to Grelod the Kind's domain. Jorlief rather pitied her, and so, rather than forcibly remove her to Riften, he had unofficially granted her permission to earn her keep selling flowers to the locals, providing she didn't trespass anywhere. He also chose not to enquire too closely about where she slept so that he would not be forced to evict her or arrest her for vagrancy.

Galmar rolled his eyes as the steward spoke, and made an angered growl that sounded like the bear whose skin he wore.

"Where is she _now_, Jorlief?" he asked with exaggerated patience.

Jorlief shrugged. "Maybe Silda might know. Or one of the Argonians?"

*-*

If Silda the Unseen knew the girl's whereabouts, she was not telling anyone in armour, that was for damn sure. Neither did his brother's friend Angrenor Once-Honoured, although the former soldier did tell Galmar that a Sweet Roll wouldn't tempt Sofie, but a taffy treat might just do the trick. Galmar did not want to know how the man knew this information, he could only hope it was from an abundance of kindness.

Galmar pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Rozenn would be home soon from whatever errand she was doing this week, and he wanted to be ready to greet her properly. This business of tracking down a girl-child to apologise was more difficult than it had at first seemed. And Ulfric was no help, offering only the sage advice, "Perhaps you ought have kept your temper in line and your tongue in check."

"How. Does. That. Help. Me. NOW, Ulfric?" Galmar roared in reply. Ulfric had simply chuckled and shook his head.

Eventually, Galmar decided his best chance of finding her again was to go back to Niranye's house, near Calixto's old property, and hopefully find her or someone who might know of her whereabouts.

It was late; the Moons were out and the wind was bitter. Frost Fall was a cold, crisp month, but Galmar would feel a lot happier and a lot warmer in Hjerim with Rozenn or even in Candlehearth with some mead. He was tempted to put off apologising to Sofie until the next day, but he knew Rozenn would hear of it (somehow, the infernal Breton had an ear for gossip) and she would be unhappy about it (probably they would fight over it, which he desperately wished to avoid), and he knew he'd never get to sleep - the argument between himself and the girl-child kept popping into his mind at the most inconvenient times - and above all else he wanted to make right the wrong he had done to Sofie.

Eventually, footsore and mentally fatigued (Rolff had followed him around the town for a while catcalling and encouraging him to go to the Grey Quarter to make some Dunmer children cry until Galmar had turned around and offered to toss him into the river), Galmar sank onto the wooden bench in the portico outside Niranye's home, hoping nobody would either mind or notice. Drawing in air to let out a sigh of exasperation, Galmar's breath caught when he noticed the tiny bedroll in the corner, and the small, shivering form in it.

"Sofie?" Galmar whispered incredulously. 

The shaking bundle turned and froze. 

"What are you doing sleeping out here, child?" Galmar asked softly.

"I didn't sell and flowers today. Sometimes Suzanna would let me stay in Candlehearth, by the kitchen fires for some nightshade blossoms, but Edla needs coin," Sofie replied.

Galmar didn't know how to process this information. "I was looking for you. I wanted to apologise to you."

"That's okay, sir. Papa wanted to be your soldier, even though he didn't know how, and he told a fib to make sure he got to go to lots of battles," Sofie replied tonelessly.

"If I had known about your mother, child..." Galmar trailed off. "I might still have sent him into action, but I would have been more careful of him than I was. I am sorry."

The girl shrugged; the gesture looked odd in her supine position. "It's what he wanted. Thanks for talking to me."

"Girl," Galmar said, clearing his throat. "Sofie."

"Yes, Mister Galmar?"

"My wife lives in Hjerim. There's lots of fires burning, and plenty of food in that house," Galmar said, awkwardly.

"That's nice, sir. I'm really glad..." Sofie mumbled, without curiousity.

"There's room for a child. A girl-child, like you."

"Like... Are you asking-" Sofie sat up.

"I could adopt you," Galmar blurted, interrupting Sofie's train of thought.

"You'd be my new Papa?" Sofie asked, actually standing upright, now.

"No! Er, I mean, you should remember your brave Pa all your days, girl. I'd never try to be a substitute. But I could be your... Guardian? I suppose?" Galmar hadn't even considered this option, but he knew he couldn't sit idly and do nothing. He hoped Rozenn would forgive him for springing an unexpected child on their life together.

Sofie thought about it. "Will you call me a liar again?"

"Only if you tell actual lies," Galmar promised, hand on his heart.

"Pinkie swear it!"

And, for the first time in his life, Galmar Stone-Fist, Housecarl to the Jarl of Windhelm, General of the Stormcloak Army, pinkie swore with a little girl.

"I'll just collect my stuff and I'll meet you in Hjerim! Um. It's not still all bloodstained after Mister Calixto's attacks, is it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Galmar let the girl scurry off to gather her pitifully few possessions, and say her (temporary) farewells to the town's other beggars. He strolled back to Hjerim, wondering how he was going to tell Rozenn that he'd skipped several Very Important conversations and just taken the girl in off the streets - _without the first clue how to parent_.

He rubbed his palm over his eyes, and into his hair, and tugged his beard, but no ideas, no inspiration leapt to mind. Maybe Rozenn wouldn't be home yet. She had said she didn't know how long she'd be in Whiterun for, after all. Maybe he had time to get used to the idea of fatherhood to a waif.

No such luck. Calder greeted Galmar with an eyeroll, and a, "she's upstairs, waiting for you. Naked."

"Of course she is." Two steps up the staircase he paused and returned to the Housecarl.

"Calder," he said softly. "A young girl-child by the name of Sofie will be knocking on the door shortly with a cockamamie tale about how I offered to adopt her. Let her in, feed her, and let her choose a bed from the new children's bedroom. And - don't tell Rozenn?"

Calder nodded and tapped his nose. "Not such a cockamamie story, then? Very well. Secret's safe with me, Galmar."

"Good. There's gold in it for you, boy. You're going a fair way to being as good a Housecarl as myself, one day."

"I'm sure I am," Calder replied with a grin. "Aren't you going to join her?"

"When my knees stop knocking," Galmar grunted.

Galmar walked slowly up the stairs, in two minds about how he would break the news to his pregnant wife that she now had to mother an eight-year-old girl-child as well. He hoped Rozenn would be in a good mood tonight. 

Rozenn was sound asleep, as it happened, lying in an awkward sideways position that he assumed had been intended as an alluring, come-hither pose. Galmar snorted lightly in amusement, and lifted his wife and placed her under the covers. Her eyes opened while he undressed, and when he turned back to the bed, he saw her smile warmly, and lick her lips invitingly.

"Missed you, husband," she purred like the Khajiit that got the cream, looking up and down his naked body.

Galmar grinned at her, and joined her in bed, giving her a lusty, if sloppy, kiss. "And I missed you, Breton."

"Let me show you how much I missed you," Rozenn murmured, peppering his face and chest with light kisses and nips.

Galmar groaned in response, then groaned in irritation. "No, wife, stop. I - we need to talk, first."

"Talk?" Rozenn whimpered, looking at him as though he'd suggested celibacy for life.

"Just for a bit, then I swear we'll fuck until neither of us can walk straight," he swore vehemently.

"But... Talk?"

"It's important. More than that, it's urgent. I don't want you to get any nasty surprises, come morning," Galmar muttered.

"Why? Did you make any other children cry while I was away?" Rozenn asked flippantly.

"You _heard_ about that?" Galmar moaned, hiding his eyes behind his palm.

"All of Windhelm has heard of it, love. I trust you had good reason?" Rozenn asked quietly.

Galmar fell a bit more in love with her, at that. "Not really, as it turns out, but... I had been mislead about her ... situation by her father, and I chose not to ask any more closely than I had at the time... I believed her to be a liar..." Galmar trailed off. He sighed, and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I should begin at the beginning."

"Usually a good starting point, yes," Rozenn murmured, wrapping both arms around his brawny one, and leaning her forehead against his bicep.

And so Galmar kept his eyes on the fur throw and told the whole tale, from Wulfgar's lies upon enlisting, to the fate of Sofie's mother, including the battle that took so many lives, and the events of the day. He didn't spare any detail, even though he might have made his own actions look better than they had been. Rozenn would see through that, though, so he kept to the truth.

"And so I told her to come here. I promised her a warm bed, food in her belly, and..." Galmar trailed off again, unsure how to put to words what he could barely comprehend himself.

"And?" Rozenn prompted gently.

"And... Well... She needs someone to look after her, feed her, clothe her, tuck her in at night..." Galmar finished awkwardly.

"You adopted Sofie?" Rozenn asked softly. 

Galmar nodded, avoiding looking at her face, he was afraid she wouldn't see what he saw in the brave little girl, or she wouldn't want the extra responsibilities he had just added to her life without consulting with her first.

"Do you think - Would she like me as her Mama?" Rozenn asked anxiously, digging her nails into his arm, in unthinking panic.

"Would you like that?" Galmar asked slowly.

He felt her nod against his arm. "I very much would."

Galmar smiled slowly, broadly. "Then I think she will, too."

The next morning, Galmar awoke early from another nightmare filled with faces of men and women he had sent to death in battle. Wulfgar had featured often, as had Sofie and Rozenn, although he knew intellectually that there was little in this world that would harm the Dragonborn - his nightmares weren't especially rational, anyway.

The sky outside was still dark, no light penetrated the curtains in their bedroom. Rozenn was curled up against him on her side, one leg hitched possessively over his thigh. He began stroking his fingers lightly through her hair, enjoying the quiet and calm of the early morning. 

Idly he wondered how long would Rozenn remain in Windhelm this time; she had returned only recently from her long stay at the Mages' College in Winterhold, and almost immediately after furnishing the child's bedroom she had run off to Whiterun on some errand, and he had missed her company. She was a wonderfully warm presence in his bed, and, although he'd never admit it aloud, he enjoyed simply lying cuddled up with her as much as he enjoyed making love with her. He hoped she and Sofie would get on well in their new, unfamiliar familial roles.

Sofie. He snorted lightly in rueful amusement to think of how spiritedly she had argued with him, in the presence of her Jarl, fighting off her timidity to try to make a few coins. He really would have to make up to her for forcing her to lose face as she had. But his little Sofie was a strong one; he hoped his unborn child would have as much spirit as the girl-child did.


	4. Chapter 4

Galmar made love to Rozenn as the day broke, loving her long and languid and, frankly, loudly. Panting and gasping, they clung to one another as their racing heartbeats returned to normal.

"Good morning, wife," Galmar said quietly.

"Mmm. Good morning, my big Bear Man," Rozenn grinned.

"Good morning, My Thane," Calder called sarcastically from downstairs.

"You knew the risks when you chose the path of Housecarl, Calder," Rozenn called.

He made no audible response, but the smells of good cooking began to permeate the house.

"Do you want breakfast, or..." Galmar began to ask uneasily. He had visited Rozenn once during her stay in Winterhold, and the early mornings had not been pretty.

"I'll have some broth, or maybe some nice, fresh bread. I feel better nowadays than I did in Winterhold - you won't see my breakfast reappearing, don't worry," replied Rozenn with a cheeky smile.

They dressed quickly, she in blue and he in brown, and sat together at the long table, enjoying a light meal and chatting pleasantly about nothing of any importance. At one point, Calder caught Galmar's eye and nodded toward Rozenn's Enchanting and Alchemy lab, beside which was Sofie's bedroom. The little girl was up and awake, and staring at Rozenn with such a heartbreaking look of dismay on her features, that Galmar didn't know what to do.

"Sofie? Do you want some breakfast?" Galmar called out to her, beckoning with the hand not occupied with food.

"Oh, I ... Yes, thanks," the little girl replied, not taking her eyes off Rozenn's midriff, visibly pregnant under the dress she wore.

"Good morning, Sofie. My name is Rozenn," Rozenn stood, smoothing her dress with one hand and holding the other out towards the little girl. Sofie didn't take it.

Galmar didn't like that, or the brief look of hurt in his wife's eyes, quickly disguised by a too-bright smile.

"Sofie," he rumbled. "Greet my wife politely."

"It's alright, Galmar, she must be half-starved, poor thing," Rozenn said quickly.

"I... You have a baby in your belly," Sofie said flatly.

"Yes, that's right," Rozenn said, smiling and stroking her belly as she spoke. "It's not too obvious, though, is it? I haven't told Ulfric yet."

"I'll pack my things right away, it's just... I'm so hungry," Sofie said sadly.

"Why would you be packing your things, girl? You only arrived, and we're not moving out of Windhelm," Galmar said impatiently.

"But she has a baby in her belly. You don't need me. It's ok, Galmar, it's not the first time this has happened to me. Maybe I'll go to Honorhall in Riften. Aventus said Constance Michel is much nicer than Grelod the Kind, and that they think most of the kids'll get new homes now," Sofie said, matter-of-factly.

"Rozenn did not take you in off the street, girl. I did. And I knew my wife was with child when I took you in, because I did not take you in because I felt I needed a child, I took you in because I wanted to, and you are NOT GOING TO RIFTEN!" Galmar bellowed, standing up to unconsciously use his sheer size to emphasise his point.

Rozenn absently patted his arm while Sofie stared up at her new father with eyes like saucers.

"I think what he means, dear one," Rozenn said gently, "is that you are now a part of our family, and whether that family remains at three or increases to four, five or fifty, you are a part of it. Will you stay? Will you be our little girl?"

Sofie looked at Galmar, standing still and panting to control his temper. She looked at Rozenn, who had a hand wrapped around Galmar's wrist and the other resting on her belly, anxiety writ clear in both their faces. She looked at Calder, who was staring at Galmar in open admiration. Sofie shrugged.

"Oh, very well, then. If you insist," she said with a smile.

"We do," Galmar, Rozenn and Calder chorused.


End file.
